


Love is a Familiar friend (sometimes it just takes a little while to find)

by White_Tiger94



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Alternate Universe-Witches/Familiars, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Magic, Magic-Users, Multi, Past Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, What Have I Done
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-29
Updated: 2016-03-28
Packaged: 2018-05-17 02:04:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5849773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/White_Tiger94/pseuds/White_Tiger94
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gavin, Geoff, Ray, Ryan, and Jack have been waiting for the person who will complete their bond for years. But when he finally appears, can they prove to him that theirs always room for one more? And even if they do, can they get him to accept a bond that the rest of the world would like to pretend doesn't exist?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Turning of the world (brings you and me together)

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written any fanfic in years, and this is my first piece in this fandom, so let me know if anyone seems out of character.  
> World notes:  
> This is a world where magic is real, and is well known. Magic is preformed by witches (gender neutral term) who are guarded by familiars. Familiars are shape-shiftiers able to transform into any animal they know well. This is a taught skill, their are no "true shapes" , though familiars often choose favorites. Familiars are protectors and companions to their witches, and often share a mental bond that allows them to communicate even when the familiar is in animal form.  
> italics= mind speak

Gavin had wanted to go out to a bar. This wouldn’t have been a problem, except Ray and Geoff had gone down with the magical flu earlier in the week, and had completely exhausted Jack and Ryan running around trying to keep the two crybabies comfortable and less miserable. Accidentally cut off their own legs during a spell gone wrong, and they wouldn’t let on for a second that it felt uncomfortable. But one hint of the sniffles, and they couldn’t so much as pour their own orange juice. Jack had collapsed into sleep several times during the entire ordeal, but Ryan was starting to get the crazed look in his eyes that came when he slipped over the line between “normal insomnia” and “would you mind moving to the left a little bit so I don’t get blood on my favorite painting when I tear your throat out with my teeth?”

So when Gavin stubbornly insisted he was going clubbing tonight, that he would go alone if he had to, Jack had taken one look at Ryan’s face, and heaved himself up off the couch, volunteering to take their little trouble maker to their favorite bar. Jack loved Gavin, he really did, but of all his witches, Gavin was the most aggravating hands down. Well, at least until Geoff decided to challenge another one of the laws of the fucking universe. Or until Ray decided to see just how far he could teleport himself; Jack never wanted to have a headache like figuring out how to fly Ray out of a backwater town in Canada again. Ray had bitched for weeks about how his extremities were still tingling even though he had only been trapped in that snowbank for a few moments before someone dug him out.

Any way the rules were clear: Gavin was not allowed outside of one of his familiar’s gaze. He was liable to find every kind of trouble within a ten-yard radius otherwise. Granted, he usually did that anyway, but at least one of them could try to steer him away from the trouble, or at least keep the permanent damage to a minimum. So while Gavin went to the bedroom to dress up for his night out, Jack walked around the apartment, absentmindedly cleaning up the piles of tissues scattered around the rooms.

Ryan stopped him in the hallway. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to, you know. I can go another few hours.”

“Sure, and how long before you took off the head of someone who brushed Gavin’s arm?” Jack asked with a snort. Ryan’s eyes flashed yellow for a second, before he got it under control.

He shook his head, “Fair point. You’ll be okay by yourselves?” he checked, already knowing the answer.

“We’ll be fine,” Jack waved the concern off; he could keep Gavin safe all by himself for a few hours at least. “The other two are asleep right now, why don’t you try to sleep for a few hours, okay? I’ll try to make Gavin stay quiet when we get back.” Ryan was tired enough that he just nodded, stumbling into the guest bedroom where Ray and Geoff were sleeping off the last of their illness.

 

So that was how Jack found himself nursing a drink at the bar, keeping a careful eye on his witch who was dancing on the floor, pressing close to the crowd of strangers. He was also surveying the crowd, watching for anyone that was paying too much attention to his witch. The age when witches were regularly kidnapped to try to force them to use their magic was over, but Jack knew that no familiar would ever forget the lessons they had learned during that time.

It was difficult, Jack reflected, being only one of two familiars with three witches to protect. Most familiars only had one witch, Jack and his mates were the first multi-bond group in centuries. The Council of Witches didn’t even believe their bond was real, and had called the group in several times to go through “testing”. What exactly they believed they would find out at this point was anyone’s guess, maybe they thought they would all yell “surprise!” and reveal it had all been a huge prank.

But sometimes he felt… _something_ along the bond he shared with the others. He wouldn’t give it up for the world, of course, but sometimes he felt like something was missing. He knew the others felt it too, because they had talked about it several times: Their sixth mate, and the last familiar in their bond. None of them had any idea how to find them but they all longed to have him (and it was a him, of that all of them were very certain) with them, to have their bond finally been completed.

Suddenly Jack was snapped from his musings by his instincts snapping to alert. Something was wrong. He searched the dance floor, panicking when he couldn’t immediately find Gavin. He pushed off from the bar stalking through the crowd gathering between the bar and the dance floor. A few flashes of fangs caused the crowd to back off and allowed him to cross the dance floor in seconds, following Gavin’s scent trail. It was lucky this was a Witch/Familiar friendly bar, or he might have gotten in trouble for intimidating the patrons.

He also wasn’t thrown out for transforming into his lion form and knocking the man who was pinning Gavin to the wall to the ground. He jumped onto the man, snarling in his face, fangs terrifyingly close to his throat if the increasing smells of piss coming from the man were anything to go by. This man smelled of piss, alcohol, but also scared-Gavin and sickening lust.

Jack snarled; longing to sink his fangs into the man’s face, to get retribution for the fear he could smell on his mate. But his human mind was reasserting itself, and Gavin’s voice in his mind was coaxing him to let the man go, to allow the security guards who were now gathering a safe distance away to remove the piece of human trash. Slowly, still growling, he got off of the man, turning to Gavin as soon as he was sure that the man was securely held by the guards.

Gavin immediately put out his arm and Jack ran to him, transforming into his smaller form and jumping into Gavin’s arms. The nimble ferret form scurried up Gavin’s arm until he reached his neck, where he curled up with a happy murmur. Black eyes watched carefully from their new perch as the man was dragged outside the club. Jack spoke over the bond, _Are you okay? Did he hurt you?_

Gavin’s response was immediate, and predictable. _I’m bloody Top!_ But his mental voice shook a little as he said it, and his hand immediately went up to start petting the ferret wrapped securely around his neck. Wordlessly, Jack leaned into the hand petting, rubbing his face against Gavin’s jaw. Gavin’s fear scent was fading, and he sensed no pain, so he decided to allow the other to keep the charade. They stayed like that for a few moments, Jack waiting until he felt the last of the tension leave Gavin’s frame before speaking again.

_Do you want to stay here or go home? I won’t say anything to the others tonight if you want to leave early._ Of course they would have to tell the others eventually, but he knew that Gavin would try to put it off as long as possible. He hated being seen as weak, or needing the others help.

Gavin was silent for several moments, absentmindedly scratching Jack in his favorite spot behind his ear. Both of them ignored the eyes they could feel watching them from around the room. _No,_ he decided, I want to stay; _I don’t want to give that guy the satisfaction, you know?_ Jack sighed slightly, but nodded, giving Gavin’s ear an affectionate nip before he jumped back off, transforming back into a human. When he turned around, Gavin was rubbing at his ear with a petulant expression. “What did you do that for, you minge?” he complained.

Jack just laughed, and pushed him back into the crowd.

 

Jack made his way back to the bar, smiling in apology at the bartender who just shrugged and handed him a new glass. They were regulars and always known for paying off their tab on time, so the barkeep didn’t mind if they wandered off without paying.

When Jack looked back at the club, most of the crowd seemed to have forgotten the incident, and some of the braver ones were dancing close to Gavin, touching shoulders and rubbing arms against each other. Gavin himself had his head thrown back, seeming to have lost himself in the music and the crowd once more. Jack was paying more attention this time, however, and that was the only reason he noticed the guy.

He was young-looking, couldn’t be more 25, and he didn’t look like he had come here for the entertainment. He had a beanie pulled over his brown curly hair, his dark dusty-looking heavy jacket standing out in a crowd dressed to impress. He was sitting by himself at one of the small tables spaced around the room. He had turned his chair so his back was to the wall, staring out at the sea of people in the club. And he seemed to be staring directly at Gavin, though as Jack watched without appearing to be noticing, the man’s gaze switched to him for a few moments before returning to Gavin.

Other than the staring, he wasn’t setting off any of Jack’s instincts at all. Normally he had a good idea of which guys would be a source of trouble later, so after a few minutes of watching the other man watch his mate, Jack went back to surveying the crowd for threats. The guy could just have never seen a familiar defend his witch before, and found staring at Gavin a safer alternative to staring at him directly. He would keep an eye on the guy, but as long as he didn’t approach Gavin Jack was willing to give the guy the benefit of the doubt.

Gavin danced for hours, staying until just before the bar closed. Slowly the bar began to empty, and eventually Gavin made his way to Jack, who smiled and kissed him on the lips. As they walked out the door, Jack saw out of the corner of his eye the same guy from before getting up from his table. Jack decided immediately to transform into his dog form for the walk home. It was easier to keep an eye on his surroundings if he was in animal form, and if he needed to defend Gavin it would be nice to have some vicious teeth to back up his threat. Gavin glanced at him in confusion when he saw Jack’s dog form at his side instead of the man himself, but he obligingly conjured up an illusionary leash so that the two could walk home without being bothered. Familiars didn’t have leash laws, of course, but it was usually easier to pretend to be an actual dog when walking around town.

Jack’s ears pricked up when he heard the sound of footsteps behind them. They made no attempt to hide their presence, and they were clearly following behind the two magical beings. Jack waited until they had turned a corner, but it didn’t seem like the guy was at all eager to leave them alone, in fact as they disappeared around the corner the footsteps speed up as if they were afraid of losing the two. When the two reached a slightly secluded part of the road, with no one else walking nearby, Jack pulled Gavin to a stop. Ignoring Gavin’s confusion, he turned around, transforming back into a part-human-part-animal as he turned.

To the guy’s credit, he didn’t back away from a man much larger than him with glowing eyes and fangs and claws, he just came close enough to talk, his hands shoved in his pockets, eyes politely looking away towards the ground. He seemed excited, the nervous energy practically excluding from his body.

On a normal night, Jack might have reacted calmly. He might have politely asked what he wanted, might have listened, and maybe it would all have turned out differently. As it was, Jack was not calm; he had had a long week, and he still felt the panic of not knowing where his witch was, and the animal inside still growled at not being allowed to kill his attacker. So when the man came close enough, Jack growled, “Stay away from my witch.”

Jack could see the man’s face fall, his eyes seeming to lose some of their brightness. “O...oh…,” he stuttered, seeming to fold in on himself. “I’m sorry I-I just thought…” his shoulders slumped turned away, “I was being stupid, never mind.”

The guy seemed so sad, so suddenly depressed that Jack couldn’t help letting his animal form fall away, automatically reaching out to touch his shoulder and turn him back around. “Hey, it’s okay…” he stopped when he touched the man shoulders. Because the second his hand touched the other man, his bond flared to life. **Mate!** His animal side screamed, the sparks from the forming bond causing Gavin to pull in a shocked breath, and he could feel the others snap awake in their apartment.  **My Mate, mine!** Jack’s grip loosened in surprise, and that was the only reason the man was able to wrench his shoulder away. The three men stared at each other in shock for several minutes, before the stranger took off, disappearing into the night sky in the form of a crow.


	2. Where do we go from here? (how do I find you?) part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a familiar’s most basic instinct: Protect. Protect even if it costs you, even if it hurts you, protect the ones you love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is a little short, but that's because I plan on having the next chapter out by the end of the week. I decided to adopt the hobbit tradition of giving gifts on my birthday. I hope you enjoy, and please leave a comment! Next up Gavin's POV, and someone has a breakdown. well really, they all have breakdowns, some are just a little more quiet about it.  
> underline=thoughts  
> italics=mind speak

Michael dropped against the wall in the abandoned alley, several streets away from…them… hand over his still pounding heart. He could still feel the phantom hand on his shoulder, the place where the other familiar had touched him. It had been the friendliest touch he had felt in months, and it had taken every ounce of his strength to pull his arm away from that warm hand. And the bond… oh, the bond… it had felt so good, feeling like his head was wrapped in warmth, love, and acceptance. It had felt horrible blocking that out, he felt like he was ripping out his own heart. But he had to; he couldn’t let his brokenness affect them.

He had been able to feel them through the bond, for the few moments that he had allowed himself to experience it. Had been able to feel how good, how bright they were, unmarred by the hard life on the streets that he had endured. He couldn’t destroy that, he had to protect them. Of all the pieces of himself he had lost here on the streets, he still held on to the familiar’s most basic instinct: Protect. Protect even if it costs you, even if it hurts you, protect the ones you love.

People have used that instinct against you before, part of his mind whispered. That’s why you’re in this mess in the first place. He shook his head, setting off down the street. No sense dwelling on things that can’t be changed now.

* * *

  
He made his way to the park; passing other desperate people huddled in doorways and alleys. He was lucky that he had a semi-sheltered bench picked out, and that everyone had learned not to mess with the homeless familiar who wasn’t afraid to fight back. He had even been able to leave his backpack behind, hidden in the bushes near the bench. He opened the bag, pulling one of the pop-tarts he had stashed there out; opening the foil and swallowing down the first food he’d had all day. As he ate, he thought about the day.

He hadn’t been expecting to find his mate tonight. I mean, sure, he went to the witch/familiar bars in the vague hope of finding his bonded, but he hadn’t really expected to find his witch. He couldn’t help thinking that he would never find his witch (who would want you; you’re a disgrace; no one will ever want you; you’re **Broken** ), but that had never stopped him from dreaming. Dreaming of a life off the streets, dreaming of a life where he could protect instead of harm. But he hadn’t been expecting to meet them that night. And anyway, what would he do if he did find his witch, drag them down to his level? No one deserved to be stuck with him for the rest of their life, even if the selfish part of his brain desperately wanted it.

He had had a rough day, and with a little money in his pocket had decided to drown his sorrows in alcohol at a local bar. It was nicer than some of the places he normally frequented, but he felt like being somewhere that his reputation wouldn’t precede him. So he had sat down at a lone table, bought himself a drink, and settled down to watch the crowd slowly gathering. He nursed that drink for most of the night, and was just about to abandon it and leave when there was a commotion by the bathroom. He wasn’t really in a position to see what had happened, but judging by the guy being dragged outside, someone had gotten a little too drunk and handsy.

He didn’t really care, it was none of his business, but he was curious anyway. He decided to stay for a little while longer, at least long enough to let the drunk leave the area. So he was watching when the young man was pushed out of the bathroom hallway by a smug looking older man. The older man had a thick beard that matched the ginger color of his hair. The ginger made his way to the bar, nodding to the bartender as he handed the man a glass. But it was the younger man that really attracted Michael’s attention. He was brown haired, and his face was dominated by a huge nose. Other than that, the guy wasn’t that interesting to look at but something about him made every instinct Michael had that hadn’t been beaten out of him perk up and take notice.

He watched the guy as he made his way back to the floor, seeming to loose himself into the swarm of dancing bodies. Michael glanced up; the guy at the bar was watching the other man as well, keeping a close eye on him. Deciding to keep an eye the two, Michael settled down. Watching the man, Michael tried to decide what about the big-nosed man was making his instincts pay attention for the first time in years. By the end of the night it was apparent that this man was a witch. His traitorous heart had started beating a million miles a second, trying to convince him that this one, this time might be the time that he met his witch. He tried to convince himself that he wasn't that lucky, but that didn't stop him from getting up to leave when he saw the couple heading for the door.

When he saw the ginger transform into a dog, he had almost turned around and walked away from the two. Everyone knew that each witch only had one familiar. If this witch already had his familiar, then he would look like an idiot asking to check. But he decided to follow them for a while, see if he could get close on a crowded street. After all, it wasn’t unheard of for single witches and familiars to group together, taking comfort from each other for the hole in their heart where the other side of their bond was supposed to be. All Michael had to do was brush hands with the witch, and then he would know if this was the witch he was meant to be with.

He hadn’t expected the other familiar to react so aggressively to him. He knew the other knew he was following them; there were few ways to hide from a animal familiar. But he hadn’t expected to come around a corner to find a half-human-half-half-animal form. Maybe a normal human would have been intimidating by the sight, but Michael just came close enough to talk, keeping his eyes down politely.

He thought he was prepared for rejection. He thought he had locked his heart away enough that it wouldn’t hurt when he realized the truth, that once again he was standing in front of a confused witch that was **wrong** , who he watched laugh on the arm of another familiar. But the pain ambushed him anyway, when the other familiar claimed the witch. “My witch” shouldn’t feel like such a shot to the heart when he had already been prepared, when he had already known.

He turned away, already planning to out the rest of his night. He was out of cash, but he might get lucky and find someone who hadn’t yet learned his reputation who was willing to pick a fight. maybe he could beat the disappointment out on another forgotten soul. Michael didn’t remember what he said to the couple, or what the familiar had said in return, but he had noticed when the ginger put his hand on his shoulder. He felt the bond snap to life, suddenly other people in his head where before their had only been silence. He had pulled his arm away from the other as if burned, staring at the equally surprised two.

It had been a shock when the bond flared to life with a **familiar**. As far as Michael knew, no one had ever seen a familiar-familiar bond, but he also felt the bond stretch to accommodate the witch standing behind the other familiar, and another part stretching out into the distance. Michael knew what that meant; somehow he had managed to bond to not just a familiar, but also at least two witches. (Maybe they had been right when they said he wasn’t good enough for a witch. maybe the universe had made sure his witches had another familiar to make up for his disgrace).

He panicked; he was man enough to admit it. He was Michael Jones, whose street name Mogar was whispered in some circles with the same fear as the Devil was spoken of in a church. But faced with the one thing he had ever wanted in the world, and he ran like a pussy. But… how could he stay, knowing that he would only be dragging them down. He was protecting them by staying away…

Suddenly he sat up, empty foil wrapper left forgotten. But what if his witches (and he could say that now, he thought in a giddy part of his mind: **My witches** ), what if they were in trouble? Michael had never known a familiar that blocked off the bond, would he even be able to tell if they were hurt? What if they needed him, and he wasn’t there because he was too afraid to face them? Instantly every part of his soul ached to go to them, to hold them close and make sure they were alright, that they needed nothing he could provide.

But he couldn’t could he, he couldn’t face them now, not after running. And what would he even say “hi I’m Michael, a piece of street trash, please take me in?” he couldn’t do that. But he also couldn’t live with himself wondering if they were alright, if they needed him. He had to keep an eye on them, if only from a distance.

Decision made, he packed up the remains of his meal and re-hid the backpack. He would backtrack and find out where his mates had gone, and keep an eye on them. At least until he was sure that they were safe and happy.


	3. Where do we go from here? (how do I find you?) part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "In Gavin’s experience, people who didn’t look back weren’t coming back."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is either genius or awful, I'm running on too little sleep to tell. Feel free to tell me which it is below in the comments.

When Gavin and Jack returned to the apartment, it was to find three frantic mates waiting in the living room. As soon as the door opened all attention was on them, and Gavin could see the disappointment on all of their faces when they realized that they were only two, not the three that should be joining them.

As soon as the door was closed behind them, Jack changed into his lion form, beginning to pace the room. Ryan was already in animal form as a mocking bird. He sat on perched on the back of a chair, but it was clear from the tension in his stance that he was one wrong move away from flying out the window. The other two were on the couch, partly to avoid startling Ryan, and party because they still were weak from their earlier illness. Geoff was drinking from a bottle, but he seemed distracted, unable to concentrate. Ray, however, was busy conjuring and banishing a rose, his fingers moving through the familiar spell seemingly of their own accord.

Gavin had no such qualms. He turned around, banging his fist against the front door with enough strength to make the thud echo through the suddenly silent apartment. He could hear Ryan taking off, squeaking in alarm. He flew around the room a few times before landing on Geoff shoulder, glaring at Gavin. But Gavin didn’t care; he was too busy ramming his fist against the door. Again and again he punched the solid wood, until someone came up behind him, gently pulling his hand away. His knuckles were raw and bloody, but with a simple healing spell whispered over his shoulder the flesh began to regrow itself, becoming pink before settling into his normal skin tone.

Gavin turned around and burrowed close to Geoff’s chest, hiding his face his the elder’s neck as he took a few watery breaths (because he wasn’t crying, Gavin never cried, Gavin didn’t need anyone, Gavin was **FINE** …). Gavin felt a hand on his back, large and warm, like Jack’s hugs. He felt Ray take his hand, his thumb rubbing soothing circles in time with Jack’s. There was a moment of hesitation, and then Gavin felt the barely noticeable weight of a small bird settling on his shoulder. After another moment, he felt the small beak begin grooming his hear, crooning sounds coming as the bird took individual strands of hair.

“Come on,” Geoff said, slowly pulling the group away from the doorway. “We can talk about this tomorrow.” Gavin didn’t argue, just kept watching as one of Geoff’s tattoos crawled up his arm and around his neck as they moved down the hallway. The humans settled into bed together, Gavin by silent agreement placed in the middle, cuddled close between the three others. As they drifted off, a small songbird rested on the headboard, keeping watch all through the night.

* * *

  
When Gavin woke up, it was to an annoying chirping noise feet away from him. Groaning, he turned over, arm flung over his face to shield his eyes from the sun slipping through the bedroom curtains. With his other arm he felt along the bed, surprised when he found only a warm indent in the bed, instead of the warm body he was expecting.

He turned over to look at a smug looking bird perched on the bedside table. “Where the smeg are they?” he asked groggily. The bird just twittered at him again, flying out the open bedroom door. Grumbling, Gavin made his way to the bathroom to try to wake himself up. When he finally felt like a decent human being, he made his way in the direction of the smell of cooking bacon. The others were gathered in the kitchen, going through their normal morning routines.

Geoff was at the stove, flipping pancakes onto a nearby plate. Jack was pulling a plate of bacon strips out of the microwave, hiding a yawn behind a large hand. Ray was sitting at the table, seeming engrossed in his D.S. but he still managed to save a stray pancake with a flick of his wrist, levitating it back onto the plate. Geoff shot him a grateful smile and brought the plate to the table, turning back to get the syrup out of the fridge before sittling at the table himself.

The front room of their apartment was split between a living room and the kitchen, divided by the kitchen bar. On one corner of the bar, towards the kitchen window, there was a bird tree set up. It had a several branches where a small bird could settle, a filled bowl of seeds, and a small bowl of water. Gavin had also put a mirror up on a branch several years ago as a joke, saying the familiar might spend less time in the bathroom if they had another mirror to admire himself in. Ryan had rolled his eyes, but the mirror had stayed, and Gavin had seen the human looking at the mirror with a small smile several times.

Ryan had settled on his favorite branch by the time Gavin made it to the kitchen doorway. Jack turned to the small bird and said something quiet that Gavin couldn’t hear, which the bird answered with another burst of song. Chuckling, Jack brought the bacon over to the table. When the older man glanced up, Gavin offered a smile, hopping that it didn’t seem to Jack as weak and small as it did to him. Jack didn’t say anything, just pulled out the chair next to his invitingly. Gavin jumped at the chance to put off the conversation he knew would have to happen and sat down. He pulled the plate of pancakes closer, accidentally knocking over the container of syrup. Geoff reached over and grabbed it before it could hit the table, rolling his eyes when Gavin sent him a apologetic grin.

So they settled down to eat breakfast, the table silent except for the occasional person asking another to pass the syrup. At last Geoff put down his knife and fork, and looked across the table to where Gavin was pushing the last of his pancake around the syrup soaked plate. Here we go, Gavin thought, bracing himself.

“Alright, we’ve put it off long enough,” Geoff said, gaining everyone’s attention. Ryan even left his bowl of seeds to settle on the back of one of the empty kitchen chairs. Geoff took a deep breath, “first off, Gavin, Jack told us about what happened at the bar. Are you okay?”

Ryan let out a confused tweet.

Jack squirmed in place. “Yeah, about that… I didn’t tell Ryan about that.” Ryan let out a grumpy noise. “You always blow these things out of proportion! But uh,” Jack hesitated. “There might have been a guy at the bar that didn’t know the meaning of the word no.” instantly Ryan took off, screaming bird threats as he flew around the room. The others sat patiently waiting for him to settle again, wincing at the increasingly painful revenge schemes the familiar was growling over the mental bond.

When Ryan finally settled, out of breath but still simmering, Geoff cleared his thought. “First off Ryan, I’m not sure that last one is physically possible, but keep thinking on it, I like the initiative. We might try that third one some time, next time someone else tries something. Secondly Jack, I don’t care what it is, we can’t keep secrets in this relationship, you know how that ends.” Jack nodded, mouthing sorry to Ryan who dipped his head once in acknowledgement.

Gavin decided now was probably the best time to intervene. “I’m fine, Ryan. Jack got him good; he won’t ever mess with anyone like that ever again.” Jack blushed at the praise, pleased that his witch was praising his protective skills.

“What did he do?” Ray asked, leaning over to look Gavin in the eye.

“He went all lion on his ass,” Gavin laughed, remembering the guy’s face when Jack put him on the ground. “He’s probably traumatized for life. I think he peed himself.”

“He did,” Jack confirmed, wrinkling his nose, “I hate it when they do that. It smells even worse with an animal nose than as a human.”

“Anyway,” Geoff said, trying to get them back on track. Gavin hopped the face he made wasn’t noticed. He had hoped to keep that conversation going for at least another few minutes, and then he might be able to make a break for the door. Geoff shot him a look that said he knew exactly what Gavin was thinking. “Gavin the same rules for Jack apply to you. We can’t have a stable fiv-six way bond if one of us is keeping things from the rest.” Everyone studiously ignored the slip for the moment.

Gavin slumped a little in his chair. “Guys, really,” he assured, watching the others faces “I’m top. You don’t have to worry about me.” Geoff watched him closely for a moment, and then nodded.

“Alright next up, what are we going to do about our new… friend?” even Geoff winced at his wording but what else could he say? The man obviously didn’t want anything to do with their bond when he met Gavin and Jack. Gavin squirmed in his seat.

“What’s there to say? He ran away, he’s gone. There’s nothing we can do.” Gavin said, looking at each of their faces one at a time.

Jack was already shaking his head even as he spoke. “It doesn’t work like that. This guy might have run at first, but he’s a familiar. Every instinct within him will be screaming to come find you guys, make sure your safe.” Ryan made an agreeing noise. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s not parked outside the apartment right now.”

Without conscious thought, Gavin’s eyes jumped to the kitchen window, which looked out over a busy Austin street. He was disappointed when the window sill appeared empty, not even a small bug sitting there. When he glanced back, he saw the others looking away as well guilty. Gavin felt a stab of anger. How dare this stranger hurt the ones he loved like this. What gave him the right?

Geoff turned to Jack, “are you sure he’s there? He might not have come back. We could be searching for him forever.” Gavin started in surprise, turning sharply to face the older pair. When had they decided that they even wanted this deserter? He was the one who had left, why should they go out of their way to bring him back? He was the one who had left Jack standing on an empty street, hand still reaching out for something long gone, three desperate voices echoing in Gavin’s brain as they called for someone who was never going to answer. **He** was the one who had left without so much as a backward glance. In Gavin’s experience, people who didn’t look back weren’t coming back.

He would have said as much, but Jack was already nodding, looking excited. “Yeah, and he’s not going to leave for a while. Even if he was really desperate to get away from us, his instincts would make him stay until he’s sure all of us are safe. That gives us an opening to get him to come us. We just have to be patient.”

Ray leaned over then, “Yeah, but how do we get him to talk to us? We have to talk if we want him to be part of this relationship.”

_Just be yourselves_ , Ryan said over the bond, _he can’t possibly resist our charm_.

Gavin grinned. “Ry-bread that might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said.”

The small bird turned to him. _Shut up, Gavin; I wasn’t talking about you._

Gavin just laughed his earlier anger and confusion forgotten. “So are we doing this? Operation bring out Boi home is a go?”

He jumped away from the table to avoid the hand that swiped out to hit him, laughing hysterically as he ran away from the others, Geoff shout of “Were not calling it **that,** Gavin” echoing behind him. Inside his mind, however, a long forgotten part began planning. He would go along with this for now, but if this familiar seemed like trouble, Gavin would do what was necessary to keep his boys safe. It wouldn’t be the first time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter should be sometime this weekend (I hope)  
> next up: Ray needs help, and Michael finds that he can do something good in his life


	4. I need you here with me (how do I find my way home)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray needs help, and Michael learns something about his mates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is late, but real life came at me like a freight train, and this chapter has been giving me fits. I hope you like it. Please review and let me know what you think.   
> italics= mind speak  
> bold= emphasis

Ray leaned his head back on the hard metal of the park bench, trying to catch his breath, hopping that his pounding migraine would ease after a few minutes. He loved the store he shared with the others, where they sold charms and spells and potions to the non-magical people of Austin, but sometimes all of the noises and banging, to say nothing of his mate’s very presence, made him wish he could be alone. So he would take his lunch break at a park bench partially hidden behind some bushes, and try to ignore the feeling of being constantly surrounded the bond always left him with. His boys, bless them, understood and tried to keep the bond quiet during his break, though someone usually forgot after a while and started yelling at one of the others.

The throbbing in his head was getting worse, and ray stiffened as he felt his magic begin to bubble up away from the careful control he kept over it. He glanced around, spotting a group of children playing not far away on a swing set. This was not a good place to lose control. Ray pushed down hard on the magic, gasping in pain as it reacted by violently pushing back. It had been a while since his magic had acted like this. When he was younger he would have random flare-ups of magic, which usually resulted in huge explosions. His parents had been worried, and had taken him to healer after healer, but none of them could explain why someone so young had so much power.

So he had learned to push it down, biting back the pain until the whole world seemed to be on fire. At least it made his parents less worried, even if it meant his magic teachers often thought he wasn’t trying hard at the spells they taught him. He had difficulty all through school, any time he tried to cast a spell all of his magic had welled up, trying to escape all at once. If he was trying to create a flower, he would wind up conjuring a field of flowers that covered everything. It led to him developing a reputation as a prankster, and it did not endear him to the school staff.Eventually he had learned that if he was constantly casting a short spell, his magic could only leak out a little bit. He had developed the habit of conjuring and banishing a rose constantly after that. it let him concentrate on other things in his life. 

They struggled for several minutes, he and his magic, before his opponent abruptly vanished. He opened his eyes to find that at some point he had closed them and bent forward to put his still aching head between his knees. He squinted through his blurry vision, wondering when he had removed his glasses. He could see them in his hand, but he couldn’t remember anything from the last few moments except pain and the struggle for control.He put them on, but they didn't seem to be fixing his vision problems.

There was a mouse on his shoe. He blinked several times, trying to figure out if it was a hallucination brought on by pain. But no, the small brown mouse was still there, calmly looking up at him. Why was there a mouse on his shoe, he wondered, confused. It wasn’t Jack or Ryan, both of them had preferred small forms, but neither had ever turned into a mouse… he sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth as he realized just who this must be. Slowly, so that the small mouse could see what he was doing, he set his hand down near his shoe. The mouse sniffed the hand for a few minutes while ray held his breath, but eventually it jumped into his palm, sniffing at his thumb. Again he slowly lifted the hand up, so he could get a better look at the mouse.

Ray wasn’t one for rodents usually, but even he had to admit that this mouse was cute. The silkily brown fur on its back, jewel bright black eyes, and twitching pink nose combined to make the small creature looking up at him the epitome of adorable. But it was also clear that this mouse was no pet, it had scars all across its body, and part of one ear had been bitten off.

Ray took a deep breath. Now or never, he thought. “I take it your our new familiar.” Instantly the small head snap around to face him.

The two stared at each other for a few moments, and then the small mouse made a barely perceptible motion of his head, a small nod.

Ray took another breath, once again marveling at how much faster the symptoms of his magic attack were fading with the presence of his bonded familiar. “Thanks,” he said. When the mouse cocked his head to one side in confusion, he explained, “for making it stop. I hate the way my magic sometimes just goes wonky, but with you or Jack or Ryan here it doesn’t hurt as much. Jack and Ryan are our other familiars, you know. Have you seen them? Jack is the one you met the other night, and Ryan is a mocking bird right now. He’s been a mocking bird for several days, this might break his record for staying as a bird. That was six weeks, although to be fair he was just starting to get to know us then.”

It was at that point Ray realized he was babbling and bit the inside of his lip to keep from saying any more. The worried squeak and the taste of copper flooding his mouth alerted him to the fact that perhaps he shouldn’t have bit so hard. The mouse scurried up his arm to his shoulder, squeaking in alarm the entre way up. “Hey, hey,” ray said, trying to keep the small creature from crawling up onto his head. “It’s okay, I’m fine. It’’ll stop bleeding in a minute.” The mouse paused for a second, and then Ray heard the one thing he hadn’t been expecting to hear for a while.

_Can’t you heal it?_

Ray gave the mouse a sharp look, but answered readily, trying to figure out why he felt like he was suddenly missing something. The park felt unusually silent, like some repetitive sound that he had ignored had suddenly vanished. “I’m really horrible at healing, dude. My teacher always said that I was too distracted to finish a healing. Not that the old bint knew what she was talking about, she was a useless teacher.” He scoffed at the memory of her, furious that the class did not understand her genius teachings immediately. She had hated Ray, the gifted student who couldn’t be bothered to pretend to go along with her exacting standards and piss-poor teaching. Some people just didn’t appreciate others gifts.

Like a light bulb coming on, Ray realized what it was that he was missing. Ever since the mouse had appeared before him, his bond to his other mates seemed unusually quiet. He poked the bond, receiving a dull response. The bond was still there, and he could kind-of hear the others talking along it, but it felt… faint, like they were standing in the next room instead of speaking directly into his ear. He turned back to the mouse, “are you doing that? The bond, are you… I don’t know, blocking the others out?” the mouse made a nervous little nod.

Ray couldn’t help the relived smile on his face. “Thanks, dude.” At seeing the confused look on the mouse’s face, he explained. “I love the others of course, and would never give them up. But sometimes a guy just needs some alone time in his own head, you know? We Witches can’t control the bond like Familiar’s can, we are always connected whether we want to be or not. I know it’s just so we don’t get hurt, so our familiar’s can always find us, but it’s tiring you know?” the mouse nodded and the two settled down.

Ray didn’t know how long they sat there, him revealing in the silence while the mouse sat on his shoulder. Then he heard the same unfamiliar mental voice ask, _could you… tell me about the others?_

Ray grinned. “Can I? What do you want to know?”

The mouse mulled it over for a few moments. _Can you tell me about Ryan? He’s the bird, right?_

“That’s right. He likes being a bird the most. I won’t tell you why, that’s for him to say, but he prefers his bird form even over his human form. But he’s really fun, if you get him in the right mood he has all these funny noises he makes, which he uses to make fun of all the rude customers that come to the shop. One time this lady came and was furious that we didn’t sell love charms. Ranted and raved for a good thirty minutes about how we were useless except to help the “real” people get what they wanted out of life. She was super fat, and when Jack finally walked her out, she made this squelching sound. Jack closed the door in her face, and there was like two minutes of silence, then Ryan managed to make the exact same sound. Geoff just about fell over, he was laughing so hard. He still giggles like a school girl every time Ryan makes that sound.”

_Who’s Geoff?_ The mouse looked fascinated now, sitting back on his haunches to reach up to Ray’s cheek.

“Geoff is one of the other witches; he’s the one with those cool moving tattoos.” Ray smiled, Geoff was never one to stay in the background and his tattoos just made him stand out all the more. “he does magical tattoos for those who come to the store who want something a little more… unique. We don’t put a lot of magic into the ones for mundane people, just enough to make the tattoos move around. Though we sell them as “protective” or “luck gaining” anyway. The mundanes don’t know the difference anyway.”

He hesitated; worried that he had said too much, but the mouse just twitched its nose in what he hopped was a happy way. Ray decided to just continue on. “He doesn’t like to admit it, but he’s also fantastic at the little charms and talismans that we sell. He’s our best healer, Gavin and I are too impatient to do something like that.” Ray grinned at his enraptured audience, “Geoff is kinda like our leader, though we joke that he’s our father and Jack is our mother. But Geoff makes sure were taken care of, that no one feels left out or left behind. I don’t know how this relationship would work if he wasn’t there to bring us back to one common goal.”

The mouse turned around, and ray worried for a second that he was going to lose his audience, but it just scampered down to his hand and lay down in his palm. _Who’s Jack?_ _He’s the other familiar, right?_ The mouse seemed eager to find out the slightest detail about them, and Ray was more than happy to fill him in.

Ray smiled involuntarily; it was hard not to smile at thoughts of jack. “He’s are lovable little teddy bear. You actually already met him, if you count that as meeting someone.” Ray laughed a little nervously, but the mouse seemed to ignore the slip. “If Geoff is the one keeping us on track, Jack is the one that makes sure everyone has what they need. He’s a horrible mother hen. If any of us get so much as the sniffles, it’s all “let me get that for you” and “you shouldn’t be out of bed when you’re sick” and finally “just let me take care of that”. He’s annoying, but he’s got a good heart, and he’s super patient, so he usually gets stuck managing the front of the store.”

_Who’s the other witch?_ The mouse got up, scurrying up and down Ray’s arms and shoulders trying to sniff all of him. He giggled when he felt the small pink nose exploring the back of his neck.

“Stop that,” Ray said, grabbing for the small animal on his shoulder. The mouse dodged the hand, taking off squeaking in alarm. It burrowed under the collar of his hoodie, and Ray spent several minutes squirming in place, looking like an idiot, as he tried to grab the creature. “You little fucker,” Ray said, giggling helplessly as the little mouse found all of his ticklish areas. He eventually gave up, settling back down. The mouse waited a few moments, before crawling out of the bottom of his hoodie. It looked around for a few moments, then scampered up Ray’s chest, ending up back on his arm looking very pleased with itself. Ray glared for a moment, before sighing and getting back on track.

“Gavin’s the one with the huge nose,” Ray replied, wondering how much he should tell this familiar he didn’t **really** know. But eventually he mentally shrugged. This didn’t feel like a stranger, he already felt like he had been a part of his life forever. He wasn’t a very social person by nature, but he had never been very good at keeping things from the ones he cared about.

“Gavin’s from Brittan. He’s a little bit older than me, but the two of us usually wind up ganging up on the old Gents we have to live with. We call ourselves the Lads. He…uh,” Ray took a deep breath, there was no going back after this. “Gavin’s kinda pissed at you, you know.” The mouse looked up at him in shock. “He thinks he’s hiding it pretty well, but we can all tell when he’s upset.”

_Why is he angry?_ The mouse seemed to curl in on itself, becoming even smaller than it was before.

Again Ray hesitated. “I can’t say much it’s not my place. But Gavin’s had a pretty rough life. He’s watched a lot of people he loves walk away from him never to return. When you ran off after meeting him and Jack, I guess it just brought back a lot of bad memories.”

_I never meant to hurt him,_ the mouse whispered. _I just, I couldn’t…_

“Hey,” Ray said, picking the mouse up and bringing it up to his face. “I’m not blaming you. I just wanted to let you know that you might want to talk to Gavin sometime soon. Now cheer up, I still haven’t told you about the time Gavin tried to make the ultimate potion by mixing all the other potions together. We were cleaning green goo out of his room for months, and it still smells like lavender for some reason…”

* * *

  
So they sat like that for several more hours, Ray telling this new familiar everything he could think of about his mates. They stayed until Ray noticed that the sun was going down. “Shit,” he said, getting up slowly so as not to knock the small mouse off. “I have to get back. Geoff is going to be so mad at me for never coming back to work.”

He put the little mouse back on the ground near his foot . “Well I guess I’ll be seeing you around,” he said turning to head back to the path out of the park.

_Wait,_ said the little mouse, and Ray paused, turning on the spot to give the mouse a look. _I don’t even know your name._

Ray leaned back on his heels and thought about that for a moment. “It’s a little rude to ask someone for their name if they aren’t going to reciprocate.”

The little mouse somehow managed to look insulted, and drew itself up to its full height, _Its Michael, asshole._ Ray grinned, the little mouse was feisty; he liked it.

“And I’m Ray; nice to meet you Michael,” He said, waving. Then he turned and walked back to the store. He had a feeling that it wouldn’t be long until Michael joined them for good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how many times I accidentally wrote moose instead of mouse. It made for some entertaining editing. Let me know if you spot any errors that I missed.  
> Next up. Geoff meets Michael.


	5. trying to find a way in (dying to find you)

Geoff had made a lot of stupid mistakes in his time. To be fair, he usually owned up to the fact he made stupid decisions (except for the time he tried to charm the hallway to exist without any gravity. That was a work of genius, no matter what Jack said), so he could usually before forgiven making those stupid mistakes. But he knew that that hadn’t always been the case. Long ago, before he became the head of one of the most unusually families he had ever heard of, he had made a lot of stupid mistakes that he regretted. But for once, those mistakes were actually going to work in his favor, so he couldn’t really regret them much at the moment.

He was standing outside an old warehouse, its metal siding’s rust stains and gaping holes showing that it had been abandoned for years. He could see the charms and spells weaved into the building designed to keep prying eyes away. They were small and hard to see if you didn’t know where to look, a skill Geoff had learned young. He was dressed in a black leather coat that he hadn’t pulled out of the closet in years, which he had promised himself he would never put on again. But it was necessary; walking in with his tattoos on display would be like painting a target on his back.

He took a deep breath before striding across the street to knock on the bent piece of metal that was serving as the door. Knock, knock…slam, knock, knock.

There was a moment of silence, and then a burly man hidden partially in the shadows of the door poked his head out. He glanced at Geoff for a moment, before checking that the street behind him. After he was sure that it was still deserted, then he turned back to Geoff, looking him up and down. He sneered, “What do you want?” Geoff felt a smirk stretch across his face. It was like he had never left.

* * *

  
The inside of the warehouse was dark and dank, filled with smoke trails from cigarettes glowing in the darkness. Geoff could feel beady eyes in the shadows following him as he walked through the gloom, but he ignored them. He made his way toward the only well-lit part of the warehouse as a man on a mission, making sure his body language said he meant business. Showing any form of weakness in this crowd would get you eaten alive.

In the middle of the warehouse, lit by large spotlights powered by a portable generator, was a makeshift fighting ring. The sides were made of cardboard sheets and scrap wood, and the tale-tell glimmer of strengthening charms on them explained why it hadn’t long since collapsed in on itself. Gathered around it were sleazy looking men drinking beer and exchanging money as bets were won and lost. But everyone looked up, interested, as a loud roar echoed through the room.

Circling each other in the middle of the ring, were a blood splattered bear and tiger. The tiger snarled at the bear, before charging towards it. The bear put it head down low, growling at the charging tiger. It waited until the other animal was two were inches away, then head-butted the tiger into one of the walls. When the tiger began to try to stand up, the bear ran across the space to slam the tiger against the wall once more. This time the other animal did not try to get up, appearing to be unconscious.

Geoff made his way to one of the watching groups as the bear did a victory lap. He blended seamlessly into the crowd, casually asking the man next to him about the victor.“Oh, that’s Mogar,” he said, flicking his cigarette onto the floor before crushing it with his boot. “He’s apparently came down from New Jersey a few months ago, and the guy in charge swears that he’s the best fighter he’s had in a long time. He almost never loses, and he’s been able to get though without one major injury in his entire career.” Geoff nodded, and began to make the rounds, sometimes talking with the people around the ring, sometimes just listening in. he had kept a few of his old contacts when he left this business, and they had been more than happy to get him an invite to the new group. But he knew that he would be on his own with getting a meeting with the man he had come here to see.

When Ray had come back to the store after spending all afternoon in the park on his “lunch break”, Geoff had been a little annoyed. With Ryan in bird form and Gavin being a whinny little shit, he was shorthanded with the people he trusted not to do something stupid. With Ray gone for the day, it had been just him and Jack running the store. Thankfully Ryan had been willing to distract Gavin for most of the afternoon, so the level of destruction was kept to a minimum. There had only been four muffled explosion noises coming from the backroom where Gavin made the potions they sold in the store, which was actually pretty mild for a bad mood for the British witch. When Geoff had yelled at the two that the store was closed and it was time to head home, Gavin had left with burnt eyebrows but a much happier expression. Ryan had spent the entire walk home complaining about his singed tail feathers, and complaining about Gavin's inability to do basic math.

But Ray when had come back home with tales of talking with their missing familiar, and Geoff had quickly forgiven the younger man. Especially when he had been able to give them the way-ward familiars name: Michael. Geoff might have left most of his past life behind, but he still kept his ear to the ground, and he had known immediately that this was Michael “Mogar” Jones, who he had heard so much about from his friends still in the business.

His friends had spent months raving about the familiar. They said he was vicious, that he almost always one his fights. He was one of the best fighters anyone had seen in a long time, and Geoff had been tempted to check him out. He had always had an eye for talent. But he had promised Jack that he wouldn’t do that anymore, and he wouldn’t break that unless there was a good reason. But he couldn’t help but listen to his old friends, so the minute Ray had mentioned that the familiar’s name, he had thought of the infamous Mogar.

Now he was standing in a place he had sworn never to go again, holding a beer in one hand as he talked with a group of men with more money than smarts. They looked like the kind of guys who it would be easy to swindle out of some money. That was probably why they were there, in fact. One of them swung his beer wildly, splashing most of its contents onto the ground as he gesticulated. “…and I said that animals like them should be lucky I was letting them live in an actual building instead of just putting them out in a doghouse in the backyard. I tell you, no one appreciates me anymore…”

His friend nodded along from his slightly slumped position. "I know, it's like they think their people or something! ungrateful little bastards..." Geoff felt his lip try to curl up into a sneer, and fought the urge. It would be so easy to curse this guy with impotence for life…

But he wasn’t really interested in this guy; he was paying much more attention to the middle of the ring. The bear had finished its victory lap, and had transformed into a young man with curly hair, dressed in a dark brown jacket that had seen better days. He nonchalantly jumped the side of the ring, making his way to the make shift bar. The crowd gave him a wide berth, as if he was still a wild animal that might attack at any time. Two more familiars moved into the ring, transforming into a bobcat and a wolf.

Geoff continued his slow circle around the room, trying to angle his way closer to the bar without making it appear that he was aiming in any particular direction. He watched patiently, waiting for the other to notice him. At last he heard the thing he had been waiting for all night: _What are you DOING here?_

Geoff smiled. **Hook** , he thought, before answering the angry familiar snarling in his mind. _Just thought I would come down, see what’s happening. Nice fight, by the way._

Michael’s mental voice growled at him, _Cut the shit. You came here to talk to me, so talk._

Geoff glanced around theatrically; _I don’t think this is the best place for this conversation, do you?_ He waited for a moment, but Michael appeared to have no comeback. Geoff nodded, _follow me home to tonight. We’ll talk by the park._ He watched out of the corner of his eye as Michael stood for a moment with an unreadable expression on his face. Eventually he gave small nod, and disappeared back into the crowd without a backwards glance. **Line** , Geoff thought as he took a deep gulp of his beer, and then made his way back to the crowd himself.

* * *

  
Geoff stayed most of the night, watching fight after fight, listening to all the gossip. Eventually around 3 in the morning the willing fighters began to dwindle, and Geoff exited the building with a small crowd of drunken patrons. Geoff could feel the angry eyes on his back, but he kept himself calm, walking slowly along until the last of the drunks had split off to find something else to entertain him. Micheal moved forward out of the shadows as soon as the others were out of sight, falling into step behind Geoff. Geoff gave him no 

“So,” Geoff said, pausing on a deserted corner, “money, adrenaline, or desperation?”

He heard the young man behind him pause, and could almost feel his confusion, “sorry, what?”

“The reason you fight,” Geoff said, tuning around. Despite his large coat and the warm weather, the familiar was standing hunched over with his arms crossed, seeming trying to conserve warmth. “Are you in it for the money? Do you like the excitement and adrenaline? Or are you just desperate because no one wants an unbounded familiar with a criminal record and a history of anger issues?”

He heard the familiar sigh. “It started with just the money; my mom was in some major debt to a guy who wasn’t all that worried about making a drunken hedge witch disappear. Then dear old mom vanished with most of the money once the cops caught up with the ring in New Jersey. I got lucky, managed to get out with limited jail time, but by that point I was trapped. No ones going to give a job to an unbound animal with a criminal record, let alone rent them an apartment. So honestly, it’s all three.”

Geoff nodded; he had thought it was something like that. “so why still do it? You could have come home with Jack and Gavin and we would have welcomed you, you have to know that.”

Michael scoffed. “Yeah right; I’m broken, Geoff. I lost the ability to change my fate a long time ago, and now I have to pay for the consequences. You guys are better off without me.”

Geoff couldn’t have stopped his next words from coming out even if he had wanted to, “bull shit.” Michael reeled back in surprise, and Geoff took the opportunity to step closer. “You can lie to yourself as much as you want, Kid. But don’t you dare lie to me. I know your life has been shitty, but you have a choice right now about how your future plays out. You can keep going down this path, become everything everyone ever said was all you could be, or you can prove them wrong. You have that choice now, and you’re not holding back for our sake, but because you’re terrified you’re going to prove those people who said you were nothing but a screw up right."

Michael was looking at him with big eyes, like he had never seen someone with so much raw emotion in his voice. “But the thing is, Michael?” Geoff said, pulling back the intensity a little. “We’re not going to let you became what they said. We’re in this together, Michael, all six of us, and if you fall you can count on five pairs of hands being there to pick you back up. So don’t tell me this is about us; this is about you.” Geoff was out of breath by the end of his rant, but he felt better now that he had been able to say it. He had been itching to give this familiar a piece of his mind ever since Jack walked in the door that night with such a broken expression on his face.

Michael stood there for a few minutes with his jaw hanging low, before he snapped it shut and the fire in his eyes ignited into a raging bonfire. “Who the fuck gave you the right to say those things? You don’t know fucking anything about me, Geoff. You don’t know what I’ve seen, what I’ve done, so take your sermon to some other stupid fuck.”

Geoff’s shoulders slumped as Michael angrily turned on his heel, his mind immediately cursing himself for coming on too strong. “You’re right,” he said, his words whispered into the air between them. Geoff would have thought the words unheard, but the younger man had paused just out of reach. “I don’t know what has happened to you Michael. I’ve seen a lot of things in my time, a lot of kids like you with nowhere else to go, but that doesn’t mean I know what you’ve gone through specifically. But,” he said desperately, knowing that this might be his last chance to convince the other man, “I do know this: we need you, Michael. We need you here, with us. We can’t function on our own for much longer.”

For a moment everything froze, as if the words had been a spell that froze everything on that street like a photograph frozen in time. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Michael turned around his expression wary. Geoff let out the breath he didn’t know he had been holding, trying to see the younger man’s face through the shadows cast by a nearby building in the dim light of twilight. “What do you mean?” Michael asked, warily curious.

“It’s kind of a long story,” Geoff said, turning to walk towards the park. “I’ll tell you on the way.” He smirked to himself as he heard the familiar’s soft footsteps behind him: **Sinker**.

* * *

  
They walked in silence for a moment, before Geoff finally opened his mouth to speak. “Do you know any other familiars who have blocked the bond?”

Michael winced, ducking his head down so his hair obscured Geoff’s view of his eyes. “No,” Michael admitted, kicking a rock down the street with his foot, “I get the impression that it’s really rare.”

"Well I do,” Geoff said. Michael’s head snapped up in surprise, and Geoff nodded at the unvoiced question on his face. “My mother was one of the children resettled by the state during the time when their magical parents were deemed 'unsuitable'. Do you remember learning about that in school?”

“Yeah,” Michael said, nodding thoughtfully. “Wasn’t that where a bunch of extremists basically kidnapped kids who had a suspected magical bloodline, trying to “save their souls” or some such rot?”

“That’s basically it,” Geoff said, nodding. “My Mom ended up with one of these groups and lived with them for years. By the time the law changed and she was returned to her birth parents, she had believed everything they had taught her about magical people being evil. She rejected her birth parents, ran away from home, and joined one of the extremist churches.” Geoff closed his eyes. “They taught her that familiars and witches should always be separated, that they should never bond. She stayed with that church and worked for them as an activist, mostly just boycotting places and walking around with a sign. It was a one of that rally’s that she met her witch. She told me that they recognized each other, he went to talk to her, and she turned and walked away. She married one of church leaders, and they had me."

Geoff opened his eyes to see Michael standing a little closer, as if he could tell how much this story pained Geoff to hear. “By the time I was really old enough to understand what was going on, Mom had left that church and my father had left us. Mom started seeking counseling for what she had been through when I was in high school. She brought home all these pamphlets about how to live after a bond is broken between a witch and a familiar and… I was already pretty fucked up, I'll admit it. I was the only witch in town, and had been bullied so long I didn't know how to stop trying to fight my way through everything. Reading those pamphlets, hearing what my mom was going through when she opened the bond for the first time in her life only to be met by silence, I just found one more thing to hate about the world.

“I blamed my mom. I blamed all familiars because how dare they ever leave their witches to face the world alone. I acted out, got into fights, yelled at my mom. I just couldn’t imagine someone having such a profound bond, to have the hole I felt in my soul be filled, and then walking away. I was so angry, all the time... Eventually I found my way to one of the fighting rings like the one here, trying to take my anger out on the world.” Geoff looked at Michael, willing him to understand what he was saying. “I got lucky. One of the people in charge noticed my skill with charms, and gave me a job enchanting things so that the ring wouldn’t break and that the cops wouldn’t find them. It kept me out of the worst fights until I got my head on straight.

“Unfortunately, the universe decided to drop Gavin in my lap before I could actually do that. He was even more messed up than I was, angry at the world but didn't know how to let it out except for taking it out on himself. I think that’s what finally got me out of the life, knowing that Gavin needed me to be strong for him. He needed a rock in the storm, and that’s what I became.” Geoff shook himself, “But you’re not here for my life story, are you, you want to know why I said we need you, right?”

Michael nodded, looking wary. Geoff looked around for anyone watching, before kneeling down on the ground below them. Michael leaned over to see what he was doing, curious. Geoff drew a small sigil for silence on the ground mumbling Latin to himself, before waving his hand over the sigil. The sigil glowed blue, before slowly expanding to cover all of the area around them. It glowed for a few more moments, before the light faded away, leaving the faint taste of magic in the air around them. The silencing barrier cut them off from the other sounds in the park, but would also keep any wondering ears from overhearing their conversation. Geoff stood up again, brushing off the worst of the dirt before fixing Michael with a hard look.

“Look,” Geoff said, “the point of having familiar’s is so witches can have something to ground their magic on. Most witches don’t need constant contact from their familiars; they can live pretty much separately.” He looked at Michael who seemed to have dawning realization on his face. Geoff nodded, “as you may have guessed from your time with Ray, we’re not like that. We need daily contact with a familiar, hourly on our worst days.

“I’ve spent my whole life knowing that my magic was weird, so I’ve spent a lot of time testing it. Since I was small, I’ve been able to do spells that much older people have trouble doing. So I kept track of my magic, and Michael?” he looked at the familiar who was watching him with an unreadable expression. “It’s been growing. It grew after Gavin and I met Jack, it grew when the four of us met Ryan, and now I’m starting to see it grow the more time we spend with you.”

“So,” Michael said, looking very freaked out now. “What does that have to do with me?”

“Michael,” Geoff said, swallowing. It was hard to remember this without anger. “I looked up my mother’s witch in high school. It took some digging, but I finally found someone who matched her description. I found his obituary, dated 2 years after I was born. He had been stuck in a hospital that entire time, his magic was attacking him to the point that he was in constant pain until his death.

“Michael, I know you’re scared. You don’t feel you’re good enough to be a part of us. But you’re already a part of this, and we need you. Ray has already come to me several times complaining about his magic acting up more than usually. Gavin's trying to be strong and hide that he's in pain, but I still know. it's just a matter of time until one of our magics go out of control, and who knows what could happen then. All three of us are unusually strong witches. we could wind up blowing up an entire street if were not careful. We need you to help us ground our magic." 

Michael looked seriously freaked out now, and he took a few steps back, breaking the circle of magic that was keeping the quiet sounds of the moonlit park out. "I...I have to go. I have to think about this."

Without another word, the younger man took off, transforming into a small white shape on the ground before disappearing entirely. Geoff sighed, turning around to make his own slow way home. He had either just made his family whole, or sealed all of their fates.


	6. Lossing what was found (world so hollow) part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm giving in to the inevitable and splitting this chapter into two. A lot needs to happen in this chapter, and it's already 4,000 words and were not even close to done. The next chapter should be out sometime in the next few days.   
> italics= mind speak  
> bold= emphasis

The sun was shining, the birds were singing… and Ryan was seriously considering murdering Gavin. He could probably make it look like an accident to the others if he made it fast. It was supposed to be nice, quiet, lazy Sunday morning, but Gavin seemed to have missed the memo.

Jack passed by on his way to the coffee pot, giving the small puffed up bird sitting on the back of a chair a knowing look. _No murder before breakfast, Ryan._

Ryan shook his feathers, breaking eye contact with the top of the brits head; _I’d only kill him a little…_

Geoff snorted as he walked past to sit on the couch. He propped his legs up on the coffee table, blocking Ray’s view of the game he was playing on the T.V. The Puerto Rican shot the tattooed man a glare, leaning to the side to continue his game. _How would you only kill him “a little”?_ Geoff asked.

Ryan thought about it for a minute. _I would start to kill him, then let you heal him enough to save him,_ he finally decided. Geoff shook his head, watching as Ray’s character died on-screen. The younger witch cursed, starting the level back up with a look of determination. R &R connection had stayed up most of the night, the familiar watching as Ray made his methodical way through a new game. Ever since his day in the park with their wayward familiar Ray had been more and more restless, often staying up late playing some game or another. Geoff and Jack were starting to shoot the other witch worried looks, but nothing had blown up in their faces yet, so Ryan was just letting the witch deal with the restlessness that came from extra magic as he need to.

The other witch in their relationship, however, was starting to be concerning to all of them. Gavin had always been a little weird: absolutely obsessed with his potion making, constantly experimenting, blowing things up more often than not, but this seemed… excessive.

Gavin was sitting at the kitchen table completely surrounded by books. He was frantically flipping through the pages of one, only to discard it and pick up another to repeat the same ritual. Book after book had been discarded as Gavin searched for gods knew what. And the tapping, oh gods, the **TAPPING** : Gavin’s foot constantly beating against the kitchen tile floor, the sound like a jack hammer against Ryan’s brain. It would be bad enough if it was a constant sound, but Gavin kept stopping for a few moments as he stared at a page, like he was waiting for it to confess its darkest secrets. Then he would look away, moving to the next page and starting that Damned **TAPPING** again… Maybe Ryan really would kill him, or at least knock him out. He looked like he needed the sleep, the bags under Gavin’s eyes looked worse than Ray’s.

Ryan was just about to go over and try pecking Gavin’s eyes out to see if that would make him stop when there was a commotion behind him. “Ray,” Geoff shouted, frantic, “Ray, no. stay with me, Ray.” Ryan turned around to see that Geoff was wrestling with a twitching Ray on the floor, whose eyes and hands had started to glow with dangerous purple energy. Jack and Ryan reacted at the same moment, jumping forward; but they were already too late. Ryan felt more than saw the energy wave hit him and knock him off course. He tried to right himself in midair, but he wasn’t able to before he hit the wall with a sickening thud. His world immediately fell into darkness.

* * *

The first thing Ryan felt when he woke up was a soft finger gently preening the feathers on his chest. For a moment that was all he could concentrate on and he reveled in the comfort the feeling gave him. Gradually other senses began to filter into his brain, interrupting his enjoyment of the petting. He heard a soft sobbing noise coming from above him. That’s not supposed to happen, Ryan thought, struggling to open his eyes. He must have moved, because the finger stopped its stroking and he heard the person above him take a deep watery breath. “Ryan?” questioned a familiar voice above him, “please be okay, please say I didn’t…”

Didn’t what, Ryan couldn’t help wondering. Suddenly his last few moments of consciousness flashed back to him, and he began struggling twice as hard to open his eyes. He had to make sure Ray was okay. At last he opened his eyes with an exhausted sound, finding that his body was lying in a lap, his eyes blocked by the folds of cloth of the person’s shirt. He felt himself being picked up, and let out a relived coo when Ray’s worried face appeared in front of him.

“Thank god,” Ray said when he saw Ryan was awake. Ryan blinked as he was suddenly moved to the boy’s chest where he gave the small bird a gentle hug. “I was so worried you weren’t going to wake up.”

Ryan thought back, remembering the pain of hitting the wall. He was probably really lucky that he hadn’t broken his neck with the way he hit. _At least,_ he thought tiredly, _you knew I wasn’t dead, right?_ A familiar would always transform back into their human form when they died, no one really understood why, but it was something that everyone knew.

Ray finally broke the hug moving the bird so they could look eye to eye. “Idiot,” he said fondly, seeming relived that Ryan was able to respond to him. “Do you think you can stand up?”

Ryan thought about it for a moment. He felt really sore, and part of him wanted to just sit here forever and rest. But Ray still seemed worried, and the animal part of his mind was telling him that laying down, that showing weakness was bad, that he should try to fly away from the large predator as fast as possible…

Ryan ruthlessly pressed down on his instincts, telling them to shut up. They were in a safe place, nothing was going to attack them, and there was absolutely no reason to consider Ray any kind of threat to him. Despite his best efforts, however, his body was still reacting to the supposed threat, filling his body with adrenaline.

He struggled up, testing out his wings before he tried to fly to Ray’s shoulder. There was a little bit of pain, but it didn’t feel like anything was broken, and Ryan looked up at Ray and gave him a happy tweet. Ray smiled a little bit, but he still seemed a little bit worried. Confused, Ryan finally took a look around the room.

_Ray_ , Ryan said very calmly, surveying the scene in front of him.

“Yes, Ryan?” Ray was trying to match his calm voice, he could tell, but Ray couldn’t hide the fact he had to bite his lip to keep from breaking out into hysterical giggling.

_Am I seeing what I think I’m seeing?_ There must be a silence barrier up, he thought wildly; otherwise the noise would have overwhelmed them already.

“That would depend on if you think you’re seeing Jack, Geoff, and Gavin wrestle a baby dragon from an extinct species that used to be our T.V. set.”

_I’ve changed my mind about my being conscious,_ Ryan declared, turning around and burrowing into Ray’s neck.

He felt Ray’s laugh reverberate through his neck. “Unfortunately I think the others need our help. If you keep in contact with me, I think I can change it back as soon as the others get it to stay still.”

The silence barrier must have fallen sometime during their conversation because Geoff yelled back, “we’re **trying**. Gavin, try to get the tail under control, Jack you get the head, I’ll hold it steady.” The other two nodded to acknowledge the orders, moving to into position. Fortunately the transformed appliance didn’t seem to have gained the ability to breath fire, but it did have some impressive teeth. For several minutes the group grunted and strained, but finally they were able to overpower the creature. “Now, Ray,” Geoff shouted the moment the dragon hit the floor, and Ray nodded.

Ray raised one hand towards the dragon, the other resting on Ryan sat on his shoulder. Ryan mentally gritted his teeth as he felt the magic flow through him like a tidal wave. He held back the overflow as Ray carefully guided the stream of magic in the direction of the transformed dragon. With a popping sound, the dragon was once again a T.V.  
Jack and Gavin both fell forward as the appendages they had been holding disappeared. Geoff backed up quickly, but he wasn’t fast enough to avoid knocking the T.V. onto the floor. All of them winced, and Geoff swore under his breath, as they heard the tale tell sound of breaking glass. Ray summed up all of their thoughts, “fucking awesome.”

* * *

 

By mutual unspoken agreement, they regrouped at the kitchen table. Jack moved a couple of Gavin’s piles of discarded books, and Geoff brought 4 beers and a soda for Ray to the table. Geoff opened his bottle with his magic, and immediately took a deep swig, downing half of the bottle in one go. He coughed for a moment, and then put the bottle down. His head in his hands he asked Ryan, “are you okay? You hit that wall pretty hard.”

Ryan shook himself from his perch still on Ray’s shoulder. He felt restless for some reason. Maybe he would go for a fly around town later. _I’m fine, just a little sore and shook up_. What happened after I passed out?

Jack answered him, one hand on Geoff’s shoulder, the other resting under the table, probably on Gavin’s knee. The British witch had gone back to flipping through his book, but it was slower now, like all of his energy had finally drained away. He hadn’t even started up with the annoying tapping noise, so Ryan didn’t comment. “Both of us were thrown back by Ray’s magic. When I looked up, I saw Geoff be thrown off Ray by the dragon. Gavin and I went to help him, and Ray went for you. Geoff set up a barrier around you too to keep the dragon away from the two of you while Ray tried to revive you. That’s pretty much all that happened until you woke up.”

Everyone sat in silence for a few moments, trying to figure out how to avoid talking about the inevitable. Jack turned to Ray with a forced smile. “That was a really cool dragon, Ray. I didn’t know you could create living creatures that were so life-like. You’re getting really good at summoning magic.”

Ray snorted, “Yeah, except I wasn’t planning on summoning anything today, let alone a fucking dragon. I don’t even know what happened, it’s not like I set up a circle or anything.”

Geoff looked at him for a moment, “do you know why you felt the need to summon a dragon into our living room? That was a pretty well formed and specific creation to be made without having some idea what you’re doing.” Ryan felt the urge to move, but kept his position on Ray’s shoulder. He could deal with stupid bird instincts that said a predator could see him.

Ray looked a little embarrassed. “I think I fell asleep. I remember suddenly being scared, and needing to protect…something. Next thing I know I’m on the ground and the T.V. is turning into a baby dragon.”

Jack smiled encouragingly, “but that’s okay, right? We were able to get rid of it without damage; we’re fine.” Ryan wondered who he was trying to fool, them or himself.   
“No, Jack,” Geoff sighed, downing more of his drink. “This is really, really bad. Summoning circles don’t just boost the summoner’s power; they also give a measure of control over the creature summoned. Ray lost control of the dragon almost immediately. I don’t think Ray would have been able to take back control of something that powerful if he had even had the chance.”

That’s not the worst of it,” Gavin grimaced, pulling a book out of his pile that was coated in dust. “Geoff had me try to research past multi-bond groups. Not,” he said trying to brush the majority of the dust off with his sleeve, “that it’s going very well. Most of the records are no better than fairy tales. Superhuman powers, otherworldly forces, mystical destines… the ancient writers had really great imaginations. I even found one story where the bonded get called to save the world from a stream of out of control magic…”

“Is there a point to this, Gavin?” Geoff snapped. When Gavin reeled back from the table, Geoff rubbed his head with his hands, “god dammit, I’m sorry Gavin. I think this is getting to me as well.”

Gavin nodded, but his foot had started its tapping again. “The point is that while I haven’t been able to find much, I did find out some of what happens when a bonded group gets separated. Obviously most of the stories are exaggerated, but… it gets bad. Out of control magic and spells, summoned creatures going on a rampage, familiars going nuts…”

Jack’s head snapped up at this, and Ryan flew into the middle of the table to get a better look at Gavin. _What was that about familiars?_

Gavin perked up, but his foot was still tap, tap, tapping like a fast drum beat against the kitchen floor. Something about the fast beat made Ryan want to be up in the air, flying alone above the clouds. He wanted to escape from the small room and the big creatures surrounding him. “Yeah,” Gavin said, turning back to his book pile. “The translation on that one wasn’t very good, but either it said that you guys would experience ‘animal sickness,” the exaggerated air quotes making Ray give the other witch a smile, “or it said that the human would make the animal within sick. Unfortunately it didn’t explain what exactly that meant, but it didn’t sound good.”

They all sat there for a moment, thinking that over. Eventual Jack straightened up, clearing his throat to get their attention. “Okay, so what’s our worst case scenario?”  
The witches were silent for a moment; then Geoff spoke, his eyes hollow. “dragon’s aren’t the only thing Ray might accidentally summon. Necromancy is the same branch of magic.”

Ray gave a bitter laugh, “I like zombies as much as the next person, but I’d prefer not to start the zombie apocalypse myself."

“O-kay…,” Jack said slowly, trying not to look freaked out. Ryan was glad he was a bird, and his discomfort with that idea didn't show. “What can we do to prevent that?”

Geoff sighed deeply, “I have a few ideas on how we can contain the damage for now, but I need more time to find a solution, time we don’t have. I can try putting some anti-magic fields, around the apartment, but that’s only going to help when we’re actually here. I can’t make a mobile version, and there only a stopgap measure anyway. Eventually the magic will break through, and its likely to be even more destructive.”

Ryan shivered at the mention of anti-magic fields. He hated those things. When he had first been…found people had told him that it was just his imagination, that familiars couldn’t feel spells like that. He hadn’t been strong enough at the time to tell them bullshit, so he had just smiled, nodded along, and never mentioned it again. The police station had an anti-magic field, and every time he had to go there he had spent hours afterword dry heaving, hating the feeling of little bugs dancing across his skin. It had reminded him far too much of… that place, which was the last thing he needed right now.

He hadn’t noticed that the conversation had continued around him while he thought until there was a sudden silence. “Ryan?” he heard, and he saw out of the corner of his eye a giant hand coming towards him.

Predator! His brain screamed at him and he took off into the air, trying to get away from the large creatures making some weird noses. The space he was in was small and Ryan felt himself panic as he flew in continuous circles around the room, trying desperately to find a way out. Suddenly he spotted a shaft of sunlight coming through a box on the wall; he dove for it even though something in his brain was trying desperately to stop him.

Just before he got there, he heard a sharp sound, and something fell away from the front of the box. He flew out the box and into the open air, flapping hard to get as far away from the cage behind him as he could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For reference: when a witch summons something, something from this world switches places with the thing being summoned. I don't think I made that clear in the story.  
> Hope you liked it, please leave a review!


	7. Losing what was found (world so hollow) part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It had been a long time since he had cried. It felt, freeing, like flying used to. He didn’t know when flight had stopped being enough to make him feel free but he hated it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, um... this chapter has taken a life of its own. it is now going to be three parts, and hopefully it won't grow beyond that. Ironically the original version of this story was Ryan!centric, with Michael only being part of the epilogue. So now the Michael!centric story I planned on writing has more chapters about Ryan than Michael. oops.  
> As you can see above, there will be 12 chapters in this fic (I hope), and I plan on having a sequel for this story after that. But that's all I plan on doing with this AU, so I have asked you all to answer a poll below that will tell me what you want to see with all of the lore and information I don't think I can include. This may include some hints about what will happen next in the story, so I have included a spoiler warning. Please review and let me know what you think, even if you don't want to read the spoiler information.

Ryan didn’t know how long it took him to come back to himself, but when he did he found himself circling high in the air a few blocks away from home. He was surrounded by swarms of other birds flying, calling, and searching for food. He took a deep breath and flew closer to the ground, forcing his bird brain back into a corner of his mind. He didn’t know what had happened, but he knew that he should probably stay away from the others for a while. He didn’t want to come back only to have another panic attack, or whatever that had been. The others would understand, it wasn’t the first time he had needed to just fly alone for a while.

 He found his way to the park, winding his way between the bare upper branches of the trees. The fall leaves on were scattered on the ground, being crushed under the feet of the people who had decided to spend the day in the park. Ryan winged silently over a couple huddled close to each other, whispering secrets and loving words to each other. Suddenly Ryan felt lonely, high in the sky far away from anything that could touch him. He shook himself mentally. He had to get ahold of these mood swings, or he was going to wind up in the mental ward of a hospital again. And this time not for a temporary visit. He turned away from the couple, flying lower to the ground so he could touch the top most branches of the low bushes that bordered the paths that wound through the park.

He was so lost in thought that he didn’t see the orange and white blur heading towards him until it was too late. Ryan screamed as he was pulled from the air and pinned to the ground, desperately trying to escape the large predator hovering above him. But he was securely pinned, and he watched in despair as the large face of an orange cat appeared above him blocking out the sun.

His human mind abruptly took back control, and he realized how silly he was being. He slowly grew his form, winding up as a tall lanky human with a cat on his chest. Unlike most other animals that suddenly had their meal turn into a much larger animal, the cat just meowed smugly and curled up on his chest. Ryan stared at the cat for a few moments, before with an air of exasperation the cat’s eyes flashed black.

Ryan huffed out a laugh. “What was that for?” he asked the familiar on his chest, “You nearly scared the crap out me.” Despite his words, his hand moved of its own accord to scratch the cat behind the ears. This had to be the infamous Michael he had been hearing so much about.

The cat on his chest purred. _I had a friend in middle school who got stuck a bunch in one form or another. I found the best way to get him to change back to human was to make him fear for his life. You’re welcome by the way._

Ryan glared at the cat. “I wasn’t **stuck** ,” He said, miffed. He wasn't a child, he could control his form! The cat presented him with an unimpressed look, and Ryan flushed red. “I wasn’t! I was…” Ryan trailed off, how do you explain something like this? He had never had to explain his bird thing to anyone before. Jack had already known when they met,  the man had actually read his file: the **entire** thing. And the other familiar had told the three witches before they ever met. Everyone else had either already known, had no interest knowing, or he didn’t care if they knew or not. Michael was the first person he would have to actually tell.

But this… he had avoided doing this. No matter how many therapists Jack had dragged him to, no matter how many well-meaning people told him it would help to put it all out in the open, he hadn’t been able to.  He knew it was stupid, he knew that it was wrong, but he couldn’t help thinking in the back of his mind: if I don’t talk about it, it doesn’t exist. If he didn’t say anything, it was like he hadn’t…

///Flashback//

It was his earliest memory. He was curled up on the dirt floor of his cell, crying his eyes out as his body ached from injuries both new and old. The man came into the small shed. He began beating the screaming child, who tried to keep himself from crying. He knew that his cries would only bring more pain. Finally the man stopped beating him. The boy tried to breathe slowly, keeping his sobs as silent as he could: he knew what would happen next. Next to his eye was a small crack in the wooden walls of the shed. He kept his focus on that crack, and though it he could see the local birds circling around the field. He focuses on them, swooping and calling in the sky instead of what the man was doing behind him. He wanted to be free like them…

//Flashback///

Ryan came back to reality to a cat frantically pawing at his chest. _Ryan,_ Michael's voice echoed in his head, sounding like he was moments away from having a heart attack. _Ryan I’m sorry, whatever I did. Please come back…_

“I…I’m fine,” Ryan shuddered taking a deep breath. He felt something wet moving down his cheek, and reached up his hand to touch it. He was surprised to find a lone tear on his hand when he pulled it away. It had been a long time since he had cried. It felt, freeing, like flying used to. He didn’t know when flight had stopped being enough to make him feel free but he hated it. It was like something had taken away his only love, besides his boys.    

Michael was staring at him, the slit pupils narrowing thoughtfully. Ryan fought the urge to fidget. He wasn’t as worried about a super predator like a cat looking at him as he would have been in bird form, but he still felt a little bit of fear tingling in the back of his skull. He had been told that that happened to some familiars; they spent so much time as one animal that part of their mind seemed to be permanently that animal. It was just something he had gotten used to over time; in fact he sometimes found it comforting to know that he would always have his wings, even when he wasn’t in bird form.

Michael shifted forward, putting on paw on Ryan’s cheek so he could lean forward to sniff his face. _You’re a terrible liar, you know._ The pink nose curled up when it sniffed the cheek with the tear track.

Ryan’s mouth twitched, trying not to smile, “I know.” He started to push himself up, and the cat took the hint and moved farther down his body. Ryan sat up fully putting a hand on the cat as he moved to sit cross-legged on the ground. He began petting the cat who curled up in his lap happily. Ryan looked around at the seemingly deserted park. The bright sunny Sunday morning he had been enjoying earlier had changed to a muggy cloudy afternoon in the time he had been flying around. The two familiars sat like that for a while, enjoying the company of another of their kind who could understand them.

Suddenly Michael hissed when Ryan’s hand brushed against one of his legs. Ryan instantly pulled his hand back, an apology already on his lips when he saw the red stain of blood on his own fingers. As gently as he could he picked the small cat up, moving it down to the grass so he could get a better look at its leg. Michael stayed silent as Ryan examined his hind foot, with the air of someone who had given themselves over to the inevitable.

The cut on the cat’s leg wasn’t too bad. It was sluggishly bleeding, and looked like someone had skimmed the side of the familiars leg with a knife, but it didn’t look like it would be life threatening if it got some medical attention. From the fact that the familiar had been hanging out in a park long enough to notice that Ryan’s bird form wasn’t acting like a normal animal should, that wasn’t on his list of priorities.  

“What happened?” he asked as he ripped a strip from the bottom of his t-shirt to wrap around the leg. No one would notice the small strip from the bottom of his shirt if he tucked it in on the walk back to the apartment; if he even decided to walk back.

Michael looked away from him. _I was being stupid,_ he said, sounding embarrassed. _Guy got a little too close, tried to take my stuff. I should have been able to keep them away from me easily, but I was too slow. He got my leg with the knife and I kinda… panicked. For a minute. I managed to get away from him after that, but, well… you see._ He seemed more embarrassed from having run away from a fight than he was for being injured.

Something about what he had said caught Ryan’s attention. “Hang on,” he said, trying to figure out what about that statement sounded so familiar. “When was this?”

The cat looked up at him. _This morning, why?_

Suddenly Ryan realized what had been bugging him about Michael’s story. He gently scratched the cat’s head, waiting until it had leaned into his hand before speaking. “Ray had a… panic attack or something this morning, probably around the time you were attacked. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.” There was no need to tell the other familiar about the out of control magic. There was no need to make the other familiar feel guilty about that.

_You think my panic and Rays are linked?_ The other familiar sounded surprised, though Ryan didn’t understand why. Geoff had told them about talking with the other familiar about his suspicions, so Michael should know about his theory that the lack of connection with the familiar was what was causing their magic to go wild.

But, there was one thing Ryan didn’t get. “I think so,” he told the other familiar, “but that still doesn’t explain **how**. We shouldn’t be affecting their magic except when we're in contact with them. And why was Ray the only one affected, none of the rest of us felt anything. None of this is making any sense.” Ryan tugged on a strand of his hair, hopping that the pain would help him think. His mates were in trouble, and it felt like he was stuck on the ground unable to help. He wanted to soar again, without care…

It seemed that some of his thoughts had accidentally traveled along the bond, because when he looked down to see why Michael was so quiet, he found a red-shouldered hawk settled on his knee. _Bet you can’t keep up with me_ , Michael’s voice echoed teasingly in his mind as the hawk lifted off into the sky. Ryan grinned, and changed into his winged form without thought. He too lifted off, following after the hawk with a challenging cry.

_You wish._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SPOILERS: So I would like to make a little informal poll of my readers. You may have noticed that I make a lot of references to aspects of this universe, such as how the bond between witches and familiars work, but I don't think I can really explain much about these things in the story without having a huge information dump. Also, the unofficial theme of this story is that point of view often leads to incorrect information and assumptions, and included in each chapter is at least one thing that is literally untrue. So even if I did have a character explain the entire thing, they would by nature get part of it completely wrong. I have a few ideas about how to give you this information if you want it, and I'm interested in what you want to see. The first option is that I include another story where I basically just tell you exactly how I think this world works. No characters, no story, just the information. Another option is that I can try to work most of the information into the sequel or a prequel and have a character explain (I reserve the right to outright lie to you this way). Or I can leave it as a mystery and never reveal anything but the scraps. Let me know in the comments, I'm curious about which option everyone would like the most. SPOILER END  
> Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed, left kudos, subscribed, or bookmarked. You helped me get through this chapter when I was having problems, and I can't thank you enough. I hope you all continue to enjoy this story, and the others I'm currently working on.


	8. Where do we go from here? (how do I find you?) part 3

Ryan made his way home from the park slowly a few hours after the sun had gone down. He and Michael had spent hours flying and chasing each other, until long after the sun had gone below the horizon. It had been exciting to fly with another familiar for so long. Jack preferred to keep all his feet on the ground as often as possible, so it was nice to fly with someone and just relax with them.

So Ryan was feeling relaxed and happy… right up until he walked in the door of the apartment. The mental wall of barely restrained emotion hit him full in the face, and was so sudden that he almost missed the feeling of entering a anti-magic ward crawling up his spine. Ryan was hit with the sudden urge to turn back around and head as far away as he could, or turn back into a bird; anything that would help him escape the sudden weight he felt. He stood there for a moment, locked into indecision about which choice he should make, before the choice was taken out of his hands.

“Ryan, is that you?” Jack came out of the kitchen drying his hands on one of their many dish towels. After Gavin used a particular favorite of Geoff’s to mop up a spilled potion, Geoff had made them go to the store and pick up several dozen more sets of the things. Everyone had wound up picking out a favorite type, which they frequently used when it was their turn to wash the dishes. Except for Gavin, who was liable to break everything he touched with a moment of inattention, or try to create a super dish soap that would clean the dishes with less effort. Unfortunately for that experiment, Ray had wound up being the first to inadvertently test the new concoction, and had wound up with hands died purple with heart shaped pink welts on them for several days.

Ray hadn’t spoken to Gavin for almost a month after that, until one morning while trying to get Ray’s attention Gavin had spread roses all over the house. With thorns. No one had been pleased by that particular morning wake up, except Ray who had been the last to leave bed. He had listened as the others found the surprise one by one, cursing and hopping around trying to avoid more thorns while yelling at Gavin. When they finally made it back to the bedroom after clearing the floor of all plant materials, they found that Ray had fallen off the bed laughing, cutting open his check with one forgotten flower. Ray had apparently forgiven Gavin after that, because they had started talking again as usual. The others hadn’t found it nearly as amusing.

Ryan suddenly realized that Jack was trying to get his attention. “Sorry,” Ryan said, “I was just lost in thought. What were you saying?”

“'I need to talk with you,” Jack was smiling, but Ryan could tell that this was going to be a serious conversation.

 The tension in the air was still thick and was making him feel anxious. He took a deep breath, hopping it would steady him. Ryan plopped onto the couch, and then gestured to the cushion next to himself, “have at it. Hey,” he said, realizing that the Puerto Rican who he hadn’t been able to pry away from this very couch for days was nowhere to be seen, “where are Ray and the others?”

“They fell asleep just a few hours ago.” Jack flopped down onto the couch, leaning back to rest his head against the cushions with a sigh. “I’ve never been so happy to hear Geoff’s snoring before in my life. All of them need a lot more sleep.”

Ryan felt a weight lift of his shoulders. “That’s great,” he said sincerely, lowering his voice so as not to wake the sleepers, “you got all of them to go to sleep at the same time? Good job, Jack.”

Jack shook his head. “Nothing to do with me, they all just crashed a few hours after you left. I had to wake them up to eat dinner, and then they all stumbled back into the bedroom and passed out. The lack of sleep must have finally gotten to them, because I haven’t heard a peep out of them since then.”

 “Huh,” Ryan said eloquently. Something about that seemed…familiar, but he put it aside to ask, “What did you want to talk about?”

“Ryan…,” jack sighed, looking over at the other familiar for a moment, “we need to talk about this.”

“No we don’t,” Ryan said automatically, scooting farther down the couch away from Jack's kind insistence. He didn’t want to have this conversation again. He just couldn’t.

Jack leaned over to put a hand on his shoulder, but Ryan just curled away from him. “Yes, we do,” he insisted, “Ryan, you can’t keep doing this. You have to learn to deal with what happened to you.” His voice took on a pleading quality, “You liked that last therapist, right; maybe we can go back and talk to her…”

Ryan got up and began pacing the room in front of the couch. “I’m fine,” Ryan insisted, “there is absolutely nothing to talk about.” He didn't want to try to explain to a stranger what had happened to him all over again, see the **Pity** on their face all over again...

Jack sighed, seeming to fold in on himself. The fight seemed to go out of him, and the lines and tired eyes made him seem several years older than he was. “Fine,” he muttered, closing his eyes, “just…promise me that you’ll try to stay human for a while this time, okay?”

Ryan felt suddenly guilty. It was sometimes hard to remember that despite the fact that he was their rock, Jack sometimes had worries and problems too. It was hard work being a familiar and boyfriend to three witches and a damaged familiar. Somehow Ryan always managed to feel like he was the biggest burden Jack was carrying around on his shoulders, so he usually tried to help out as much as he could with keeping the others from bothering Jack when he needed space. He wasn’t nearly as good, unfortunately, about not being a burden to Jack himself. “I promise,” he answered, both of them knowing that this promise had been made and broken dozens of times before.

Ryan cleared his throat. “I saw Michael today,” he said, trying to change the subject. “We hung out at the park for a few hours.”

This seemed to make Jack happier. “That’s great,” Jack smiled, “the more we interact with him, the more likely he will be to decide to join us. What is he like; I only got to see him for a few minutes.” 

Ryan thought back to his afternoon with Michael. He realized suddenly that besides Ray, he had been the one that had spent the most time with their new bond mate. “He was…,” he started, trying to figure out how to put into words what he had felt with the other familiar, “great. I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun with someone outside our group. We spent a couple hours flying around and hanging out. It was nice to be able to hang out with another familiar like that.”

Ryan winced automatically as he heard the words come out of his mouth. “Not that I don’t love hanging out with you, of course. That’s not what I meant, I just…”

“Just want to be able to hang out without me always nick-picking and second guessing you,” Jack finished for him, a sad look in his eyes. “I know, you don’t have to say it. You’re so much better than you were that day I first met you, lying exhausted in a hospital bed, terrified of everyone. Sometimes I can’t believe how far you’ve come, and others I’m terrified that if I make the wrong move you’ll shatter into a million pieces.”

Ryan grumbled. “I’m not that bad anymore, Jack, I’m getting better; you don’t have to treat me like I’m fragile.”

Jack smiled sadly, “I know. But your my mate, I’m never going to stop worrying about you.” Ryan nodded, knowing he was just the same. They settled down in silence for a while, just enjoying each others presence. 

“Do you ever wish… never mind, it’s stupid.” Jack eventually said, sitting up straighter on the couch, turning his face away from Ryan towards the hallway.

Ryan looked up, “do I ever wish what?” when Jack didn’t answer, stubbornly resisting Ryan’s attempts to get his attention, Ryan sighed. “Jack, I’m not going to think it’s stupid. And even if I did, I answer all of Gavin’s stupid questions, don’t I? I’ll answer yours too.”

Jack laughed at that, no doubt remembering all of the times Gavin and Ryan got into long arguments about the stupidest things. He took a deep breath as well, “do you ever wish you had grown up normal? Had a loving family, a good childhood, got to live a normal life…?”

“…Married a nice girl, had my 2.5 kids, picket fence, and a dog?” Ryan filled in. Jack didn’t answer, just looked at him with an apologetic expression. “No, Jack,” Ryan said gently, “I don’t think that. But I understand why you would. We all do, you don’t have to hide it.”

“But I shouldn’t feel this way,” Jack broke in heatedly, “I love you guys. I wouldn’t give you up for anything, so why…” he seemed unable to continue, and a moment later let out a frustrated noise.

Ryan took a moment to gather his thoughts. He wasn’t exactly a pillar of mental health, he could admit it; he probably shouldn’t be handing out advice. But he knew Jack like the back of his hand, possibly better than the others did. Desperately needing someone to hold your mind together did that to a person. “It’s not wrong to want things from life Jack. And it’s not your fault that you were taught that life would include certain things. We have never doubted that you love us, but you need to let this go.”

“We can’t be what you were taught to expect,” Ryan told his mate, “I don’t even think that’s what you really want, and I think you would quickly go mad in that ‘normal’ life. I think…,” Ryan took a deep breath, “… no, I know that what you want is the stability you were promised. But being normal wouldn’t give you that, Jack. Even people in more normal relationships have problems sometimes. But we have people to fall back on when one person is having trouble. Normal relationships don’t have that; we get much more than they do. Being normal isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, you know. But we’re not normal, Jack, we never can be.”

“You can’t keep trying to fit us into that mold, Jack,” Ryan told the other man gently. “It wasn’t made for us, and trying to fit ourselves into it to suit people long gone will only hurt us more.”

“You’re right,” Jack said slowly, “I just wish things could be easy for once, you know.”

Ryan laughed, “What on earth would we do with something like that? We’d die of boredom.”

“Good point,” Jack said, standing up and stretching, “Now. You have any idea what we’re going to do with the idiots in the other room?”

Ryan stood up as well, smiling even though he was still mentally reeling from their conversation. “I have no idea,” he groaned, remembering what had happened that morning. “I partly want to just lock them up in a room until we get this all sorted out, but that would end terribly. I just wish there was some way to tie Michael up in the apartment so that he could get used to being around all of us. I bet that he would be willing to stay after a little while.  We just need him to get used to us, agree to live here, and then all of this can be solved.”

“Come on,” Jack said, taking Ryan’s hand and leading him to the bedroom. “We can think about ways to seduce our new mate tomorrow. Maybe we can keep your plan of dragging him in kicking and screaming as a backup plan.”

Ryan laughed, and allowed himself to be led to the bed where his three mates rested peacefully. He gratefully curled into the pile on one side, watching as Jack did the same on the other. Both of them nodded off quickly, the exhausting day overwhelming them.

Neither noticed that one of the men on the bed had his eyes open.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed this! It was supposed to be a happy little one shot, but then Micheal decided to run away at the last minute. I don't know how long this will wind up being, but it feels like at least two more chapters are going to be needed. My schedule is pretty busy, so the next part won't be up for at least a week. Until then please leave me a comment telling me if you liked it, and what you would like to see next. Next chapter will be Micheal's point of view.  
> Also, this AU isn't mine, although I have made a few tweaks to it. I can't find the original stories that had this AU, but when I do I'll leave them in the notes.


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